Kumatoo

Guy Nankamp

African Inventors

August 10, 2012---Guy Nankamp is a Cameroonian inventor who has designed "variable index sowing seeders" that come in two models (portable and coupled) and an automatic system for railway safety (CASF in French), among others. The seeders are patented since September 30, 2005 by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) under No. 12884.

According to the inventor, the seeders are generally coupled to farm-machineries, and designed for a well-defined category of grain. The seeders designed by Guy Nankamp would be, however, adapted to all types of grains, whatever their shape. These seeders work on a four-stroke cycle which is: vibration, admission, ejection and delivery for each sowing.

For the coupled model for which the traction could be animal or mechanical, there are 18 possibilities for varying the spatial distribution of seedlings (9 in straight-line and 9 in staggered rows or checkerboard). Moreover, the partitioning of hoppers allows, with the same seeder and at the same time, a cross-sowing between two similar varieties on different lines.

As for the CASF, this automatic device is made of an energy autonomy system that regulates railroad crossing traffic with two regulator boxes (10) placed on both sides of the rails. 30 seconds before a train reaches the crossing, for instance, the amber light (27) and the display board (33) start to operate automatically. And about 15 seconds before the train reaches the crossing, the red light (35) and the siren (34) take over, while the half-barriers (38) block the roadway (5) on both sides.

The system designed by Guy Nankamp also facilitates, via a security display placed in each railway station, the entrances and exits of trains 5 minutes ahead of time. The train driver is also warned 5 minutes in advance by a device placed in front of him when he is coming close to a railway station, a railway crossing or any other dangerous area requiring a slowdown.